Thursday, August 14, 2008

A Line Of What On The Radio?

Every weekend SPEED manufactures a lot of TV programming from the SPEED Stage at the Sprint Cup races. One of these programs, squeezed-in between the "big shows," is called Tradin' Paint.

The series began with Michael Waltrip, host John Roberts and a rotating member of the media debating various NASCAR issues. Waltrip eventually moved-on and was replaced by Kyle Petty. Last season, Petty got his very own lesson in dealing with those NASCAR media members. Unfortunately, the lessons often played-out while the program aired.

This little thirty minute show is tough to catch for many fans and does not re-air after Sunday. The shifting race schedules between Saturday nights and Sunday afternoons mean this TV series is best viewed on the DVR or TiVo. Last weekend's show at Watkins Glen was an interesting one to record.

TV veteran Randy Pemberton has been a utility player for SPEED this season as well as hosting one "mini-network" for DirecTV's Hot Pass service. Some NASCAR fans may remember Pemberton working as a reporter alongside Bill Weber on Inside Winston Cup Racing back when Ned Jarrett was the host on TNN. Pemberton has been around the NASCAR block and was this week's media guest.

Roberts led the panel through polite discussions of issues like racing in the rain and who will make The Chase for the Championship. Then, the topic turned to shorter races. Petty was all for it and Pemberton was not. Keep in mind that Petty's other part-time job is as a race analyst for TNT's NASCAR package.

Pemberton forcefully made the point that if the TV guys showed more than just the top five or six cars fans might be more interested in the racing. That did not go over well with Petty. Comparing the current racing to watching paint dry, Petty offered the rebuttal that you can't make something from nothing.

Then, Pemberton pushed Petty's hot button when he said that perhaps if Petty listened to the MRN radio broadcasts he would be able to understand how to make racing exciting. "Those guys (drivers) are battling just as hard for 20th, which is where you are most of the time," said Pemberton.

The radio guys and the TV guys are like the Hatfields and McCoys. So, Petty wasn't having any of this nonsense. "You know why they are battling for 20th?" asked Petty. "Because you can't see them and those (MRN) guys are shooting you a line of crap on the radio!"

His point was that because the TV announcers have to actually show the race to home viewers they must call the real action on the track. Petty was suggesting that the racing action was being embellished during the radio broadcasts.

Pemberton's contention was simple. Should the TV networks expect to be entertained by the racing on the track all the time or should they be actively involved in telling the whole story of the race and work to make it exciting for the fans watching at home?

We have all seen the on-air TV styles change from the drama-building of Ken Squier and the excitement of Eli Gold to the laid-back style of Jerry Punch and the pragmatic style of Bill Weber. How many fans are watching the races on TV, but listening to the radio to get exactly that old-style excitement back again?

Unfortunately, this was the only opinionated moment in an otherwise uninspired program in what has become an uninspired series. TDP readers now call Tradin' Paint a "love-fest" and recent shows have been nothing more than two opinions given to a bored host.

Roberts appears on almost every SPEED Stage program and can be forgiven if viewers get the feeling he wants to get the show over and have some lunch. Pemberton might be a good substitute for Roberts because of his long history both in the sport and with Kyle Petty. Add a Jenna Fryer, David Poole or Lee Spencer to that mix and it may finally make for some interesting TV viewing.

One element absent from Tradin' Paint is the ESPN reporter presence. Marty Smith, David Newton or Mike Massaro will never be on this program due to network TV contracts and ESPN policies. That is a shame for the fans.

As Tradin' Paint makes its way to Homestead, the choice of the topics to discuss and the media guests to invite are going to be make-or-break decisions that will either grow this series or continue to let it languish in SPEED TV's minor leagues.

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48 comments:

Anonymous
said...

So Petty's comments are that MRN shouldn't try to make race fans excited about what they are seeing on the track?

All I can say is that if I was just imagining the race through MRN's description and was not able to watch on TV, I would be excited on just about every lap trying to picture what is happening. They always seem genuinely excited to be at the racetrack each week.

With ESPN at the help of the TV coverage, now it's pretty easy to mute the volume, keep the radio on, and watch FoxTrax for lap times, positions, etc.

Moral of the story - if the TV coverage wasn't always so severely lacking, I wouldn't need to do all of those things.

I really like Randy :) he definitely makes it a fun show when he comes on :).

I wouldn't mind seeing him take over for JR. I love JR but he is used a lot so I know the break would be nice for him.

Even if the MRN guys were "telling tales" it's nice to imagine a real battle going on since we're not seeing a darn thing on TV. Heck unless they happen to be in camera shot of a "name" we don't even know half the field is still out there. And for those who aren't all we know is they've been out/off for X laps and no reason why :(

With the "it's not a playoff" playoffs, those guys are also fighting as hard as the "names" for their position in points and more often to ensure they'll be in the ride next week.

I hate the "oh lookie we have a surprise in the top 5 right now" or they have the "oh where did HE come from?" type commentary. If you had been paying attention to the "invisible" battle for 20th you'd know that he was steadily making his way up the field the last 100 laps!

I've been at the track and ALSO listened to MRN at the same time. They're right.

The "radio guys" are telling us what's happening.

The "TV Guys"--and yes, you ARE one, now--cheat us out of anything but a top-10 rundown (plus wherever KyBusch is) and the wrecks.

Kyle Petty has, thanks to TP, just about used up all the goodwill I ever felt for this substandard driver who has been treated like someone because of what he does for kids (off the track!) and his family name.

Leave it to Kyle to miss all of that "racing" going on during a race. He's usually mired way back just putting his laps in his car while others are battling for positions.

Seriously though, the lack of TV coverage has propelled me to try and get to as many races as I can during the year/summer. Being in the Midwest, I can get to Chicagoland, Indy, and maybe Michigan, but other than that we get stuck with TV.

The difference between Nascar and other sports is that, most of the time, I'd rather be at home to watch baseball or football because usually the TV coverage is just as good as being there (so I can do other things and don't have to pay to go or travel).

But so much is missed on the track aside from the 15% or so of the race that isn't shown due to commercials.

This is long and winded but I like the point someone made about how "all of a sudden" so and so is in the Top 5. If I have to hear Jerry Punch say "How about so-and-so" when a driver has methodically made his way from the back to the front of the field for, as someone said, 100 laps, I will cry.

JD- I think Kyle's participation has improved the show a great deal as he has made the media guests back up their opinions and not just throw them out as gospel. I believe both Bob Pockrass and Jenna Frye have become much better guests than they were at first by discovering that they need to be prepared to back up what they say. Lack of disagreement does not take away from the information provided on the show.

I really would like to see Randy P. on again soon so they could discuss Kyle's comment about radio in more depth so Kyle could explain what he meant.

You know much better than I do of course, but I wonder whether Randy P. would be a good moderator as i wonder whether he would be inclined to participate too much, rather than just referee.

Also in light of her posting right before the start of the Chicago race about HOF having been caught with 15 lbs. of lead in the water bottle (which to date has not been corrected), I question whether Lee Spencer could add anything worthwhile to the show.

I had taped it but hadn't bothered to watch until I read your column. So I watched finally...Randy more than found & hit Kyles button, he nuked it!! Finally someone taking up for us fans on TV. You go Randy.

If thats his attitude he should get work other than as a Cup "analyst". Even tho' he's good - its explains alot if thats the thought processes of TPTB.

If Kyle wants short sprint races maybe he should consider racing Midgets.

The show has lost it's legs, I always thought of it as 2 people squaring off to present their opinions which differ in some aspect. That is no longer what is happening and the show needs to find topics where opinions differ. That was what happened with Randy this week and it was that best one in some time. I think Speed needs to get someone from MRN for this week to really call out Kyle. I too have been to more than one race and they do not make up the racing, this past Dover race (the really boring one) the announcers were trying so hard to find things to talk about during commercial breaks (when you are at the race you do not hear the commercials you hear them talk to each other) if they were going to make something up that would have been the race to do it.

Randy gave basically the same comment on HotPass (Jeff Gordon Channel) a month or so ago when TNT was carrying a race. When the networks go to commercial, HotPass does also, and when they come back you heare the network broadcast before they start showing the race. Well Weber said something about "Not much excitement happening" and then Randy jumped overhim with "Hermie, don't know what race they are watching on the network, but we are watching some exciting racing here." (paraphrased). Wonder if this is an attitude the "second tier" broadcasters have, that the "top tier" is not portraying the race the race accuratly.

Let's take a quick look at the three PxP announcers for Sprint Cup. You have Mike Joy, who sounds like he enjoys being there (and based on his past experience, probably does) and does a great job calling the race.

Then you have Weber and Punch, who seem like the types that as soon as the race is over are heading for the door and don't pay attention for the rest of the week until around Thursday when it's time to prep for the next week.

That "might" not be accurate at all, but when I listen, that's what it sounds like.

Add MRN to the mix - they sound like they've been at the local dirt track on Thursday night, at the other local track on Friday night, and then get to the big race and just keep motoring along with their call of the race.

Don't know where else to put this, but ESPN's coverage on Sunday dropped from a 4.1 in 2007 to a 3.6 this year. They were up for the Brickyard and the same for Pocono, so I'm not sure if this just sounds like people are starting to see how poor the coverage is with ESPN.

Also, JD, I noticed that some article out there had you mentioned as praising ESPN's coverage of the Cup races so far. I almost spit my cereal out when I read it but didn't think to mention it until now. I wondered what site they could have possibly been reading. They said something about how with no Digger or RaceBuddy, it's solid basics for Nascar coverage. Didn't you just have an article wishing that RaceBuddy was still around?

John Daly – NASCAR’s blogging TV critic – is fulsome in his praise of ESPN’s coverage of the Cup Series the last three weeks. Even our own Doug Turnbull, in his TV review column, has occasionally noted that ESPN is doing it right this season. Televising live sporting events can be a crapshoot even in the best of times, and sometimes, the casual fan underestimates how hard it is to cover everything at — in some cases — such monolithic tracks.

For my money, ESPN has done a tremendous job in extremely trying circumstances so far. It corrected the faults from its first year, and Andy Petree and Dale Jarrett are a pleasure to listen to in the booth. Plus, there isn’t a Digger or a Race Buddy in sight. Pure bliss!

I had TP on the DVR Sunday. I was somewhat disappointed when I watched it. It needs more arguing (with respect) if possible. Kyle can get a little pissy, though. As much as I like JR, the host needs to be a little more edgier. Someone to stir the pot and then let Petty and whoever go at it. Or, just have two people do a point/counterpoint. Reminiscent of old SNL. Couldn't you hear Petty say, "Jenna, you ignorant sl**"". I know he wouldn't, but it would be funny.

Shortening races would not be a bad thing. I'm surprised that NASCAR hasn't jumped on the "green" bandwagon by lopping off a 100 laps here and there.

I listened to MRN this past week more than I have listened in a long time and realized what I had been missing by just watching the race on tv. I miss the excitement of the race that they give us on the radio and wish that they would put Robin Miller on Trading Paint. He would defiitely more than push Kyle's buttons and would get everyone revved up.

I watch Paint every week,but it has to be the lowest on my priority list of Nascar programs to watch. Right down there with anything having Rusty Wallace on. Roberts is fine,but I'm tired of hearing what Kyle thinks and the so called journalists are pathetic.

I cheered when Pemberton made his point about the lack of TV coverage for more than the top 10. If road races are so 'boring', why didn't ESPN keep a camera on Marcos Ambrose? Starting 43 rd and finishing 3rd, he certainly must have passed a bunch of cars. Did we see any of his progress? Nope. TV chose to show us the top 10 basically running single file. One has to wonder how sponsors of those cars feel when they are virtually ignored....even if they make it into the top 10. 'Story lines' are killing the excitement potential for many fans.

I'm also amused by the way that TV shows the point standings. They now tend to focus on how for drivers are out of 12th place. It's a handy way to disguise that the 6th place driver is more than 500 points behind the leader. Makes 'resetting the points' even more ludicrous, doesn't it?

TV chose to show us the top 10 basically running single file.And then we see people complain about "a boring race," with "no passing."

There was a lot of passing. You just don't get to see it unless it happens in among the top 10 cars.

ESPN's doing a miserable job. Between Punch's inmability to figure out what he's watching and convey it to the lack of coverage of anyone but the top 10 cars, we're being cheated out of good race coverage.

I shouldn't NEED to listen to MRN while watching ESPN to find otu what's really happening.

I don't disagree that all the networks that show NASCAR should show more racing, front, back, middle, all of it! But my husband and I were driving home from in-laws during Pocono and listened to MRN. I'm sorry but their HYPE was too much. I thought there was a spectacular wreck or someone was blowing up or something else drastic. They were excited at every turn but everyone was in single file. I think they overdue it. Just my opinion.

This show can't leave the air fast enough . Terrible , a complete waste of every viewers time . As are most of the other NASCAR inspired shows . Radio always presents a better show than television . Radio can't rely on graphics , crawls , cutaways , in-ground camera shots and pit crew cams . They have to fill every on-air second with race commentary . Now making sure that there is no dead air time means the radio announcers tend to use a little too much talk sometimes , thats the downside , the only downside . Radio understands that they are working with a totally blind fan base . If you are listening on the radio , then you are probably home or in the car . As such , their job is to create the race for the listener .Radio announcers are very well versed in all aspects of the sport , most have been in the business for decades . Sounds , sights , action calls etc. And MRN and PRN do a great job of describing the total event , including ALL of the race action and frequent field rundowns . By the way the locking down of the camera and full field rundown was a perfect way for fans to see their drivers . Why don't all race broadcasts use that ? TV relies on too cute gimmicks , wildly untalented announcers , and focusing mostly on the handfull of drivers and a few products that the sponsors pay them to sell us on . They don't seem to realize ( or simply don't care ) that the NASCAR fan is far more interested in the actual race than any of the silly fluff we are subjected to . We want to know how our driver is doing in the race . Radio gives us that , tv does not . The radio announcers only have the race itself , they can spend the entire 4 hours giving us information that is only about the race itself . TV spends that same 4 hours by giving us at least 2 hours worth of fluff and self promotion . . The fans aren't looking for pontificating ( Mike Joy ) droning , mindless ad-copy conversation ( John Roberts ) or constant self congratulations ( Waltrip , Hammond , McReynolds , Wallace ) or grade school level jokes and skits ( The other Wallace , Spencer ) . What we desperatly want is the race , and nothing but the race . Benny and Neil understood that , Buddy Baker understands that , so do Kyle Petty , Dale Jarrett , Andy Petree , Wally Dallenbach , Allen Bestwick , and a handfull of others . Yet no matter how much the fans complain , and they do , things only seem to get worse .

I missed the show but I have always felt that MRN makes the race more exciting (not necessarily MORE exciting than it really is, but just more detailed about what's going on.) Part of it is, as others have said, they have to 'paint' the picture with their words, but part of it is they're just very good at what they do--professional broadcasters, not former racers. That isn't to say racers always make bad broadcasters, but you have to have speaking talent too (like Dale Jarrett, like Phil Parsons). I like Kyle in general, but sometimes he sounds like an idiot (as do we all, occasionally, I guess.) I don't mind the show as much as some, but I would agree, the reporters really make it interesting, I miss Jenna Fryer.

But please...I can't STAND Eli Gold...exciting? I'd rather hear fingernails on a chalkboard...MRN guys made a funny joke (off air) at his expense on Saturday, I laughed my butt off. I'm sure he's a nice guy & all. I really miss Buddy Baker though. Lot smarter than I think people think he is.

Sally B @ 7:21 a.m. brings up my pet peeve: Its not how far ahead of 12th you are that matters, it's how far ahead of 13th.

But back to the subject here, I think there is a kernel of truth to what Kyle is saying about the radio and I'll use a TV guy as an example to make my point. Watch the next truck race and listen to Rick Allen in the TV booth. He will invariably say that two trucks are "racing SIDE BY SIDE down the backstretch!!!" when one truck is merely passing another one.

Listening to MRN/PRN you will hear phrases like "fighting for position" or so-and-so is "joining the battle for 15th". That conjures up quite an image, but I suspect what you have is a group of cars running their own lines trying to stay off of each other till the next pit stop. (At least that's what I've seen lately with the COT).

As I posted on another thread, MRN & PRN (as well as Indy's radio network) have reporters all over the track ... in each turn ... in the pits ... etc ...

So, they can give a much better overall picture of the race ... compared to the tv crew who are stuck in the booth (with the exception of 2-3 pit reporters) ...

The tv cameras are limited by the shear fact that they are cameras and the operator has to know "where" to look & can only see one specific spot (Yes, they can move) ... The camera eye's not the same as the human eye that can see a LOT of things at one time ... This is why a lot of camera operators get beaned in the head by flying balls, etc at other events ...

The tv networks just don't have enough cameras around the track to catch every little thing that happens during the race ... Saturday's Craftsman Truck race at Nashville proved that ... They never could find conclusive video of "what" exactly happened to Michael Annett & his truck to get as much damage as it did ...

With a road course, it's even harder for the tv crew to cover ...

My only complaint about MRN & PRN is that they sometimes will make things TOO dramatic ... If you step away from the radio and can't quite make out what they're saying, when you hear a vocal tone change, you sometimes think that a big wreck / fire has happened and you run to the tv and see that it's nothing big ...

I watched Trading Paint and think Kyle Petty couldnt have it more wrong. I cant count how many races Ive been to but believe me my scanner is always with me. I listen to not only the drivers but also MRN/PRN once and awhile TV frequency. TV is boring, this ego driven booth is usually dominated by who has the biggest mouth and testrone for the day.

Regarding Pettys comment about MRN not giving the whole story on racing he is in lala land. As I said I always listen to MRN at the races and follow with my binoculars and 99% of the time the broadcasters are on the mark. Unlike the jokesters in the booth.

I like Kyle Petty but as stated by another blogger he is over rated by the family name and the Kids Camp. God bless his soul he is a good man, but not for that he would be rated up there with Derrick Cope as a driver.

Well, someone had better make it exciting for the race fans! I prefer to listen to the race rather than watch it on TV because the radio broadcast does cover the entire field so I feel like I can tell what is going on. Right now with the cinderblock of today being raced, the race fans are getting more single file racing than ever and if the TV announcers are only talking about the top 5 and that in between long minutes of commercials, well, yep, the racing is boring. I appreciate that Kyle has done a lot for charity, but he doesn't do a lot for me as an announcer or on this show. They need more actual discussion -- not necessarily argument, but more than 1 view point to present, otherwise, it's not "trading paint" but simply a discussion and boring at that. It has always been tough to find this show on the schedule since it "moves" and when it's format makes it uninteresting, too, that's a bigger problem.

Boy, it did get ugly today on Nascar on Sirius. With Poole agreeing with what Kyle Petty said, Dave Moody took it personally, and held Poole's feet to the fire. And then on Moody's own afternoon show, he replayed the verbal jousting, and then added more fuel. After that, callers all supported Moody and ripped Poole and Petty. Like everyone said, when you're listening on scanners, there's no way you can fake what's going on on the track. Moody said that if he tried to embellish his play by play, everyone would have his behind. And like most callers said, radio guys have to paint a picture of the race, which is something that TV announcers don't have to do because they have video to back them up. And, when one man says "there's a full car length between the 20 and the 18", one man's one car length might be another's bumper to bumper. But that does not constitute embellishing the play by play. This may continue to be an interesting fight worthy of Olympic medals.

When Moody called in to the show where David Poole is a co host, he was really angry. He kept saying that unless you have worked as a broadcaster in Nascar radio coverage, you have no idea what you're talking about. Poole agreed with him on that, but he still held the position that these guys embellish their calls. Moody said he would not tell Poole how to write his stories and Poole shouldn't tell broadcasters how to call a race. Poole said his opinion is what it is and it's not going to change.

But what I found interesting, and I hope someone can explain this, during Moody's show, after he re played the conversation from the morning show, he went to commercial but before they went he said "we'll hear more from the corporate shills for ISC". I don't know where that comment came from, but apparently it was important.

As others said, all the callers supported Moody. But one good thing was, when callers got really harsh against Poole, Moody cut them off and said he respects Poole and he doesn't want people to trash him. He took the high road.

Anon @ 11:55But what I found interesting, and I hope someone can explain this, during Moody's show, after he re played the conversation from the morning show, he went to commercial but before they went he said "we'll hear more from the corporate shills for ISC". I don't know where that comment came from, but apparently it was important.

- I think Moody was implying that since they "made things up" they would be back after the break.ISC is the parent company of MRN, which Moody works for. Sirius Speedway is produced by MRN for Sirius, I think that's what Moody has said.

The only time I've heard radio announcers do this is towards the end of the race. The leaders can be 20 car lengths apart on the last lap and sometimes they make it sound like they are only 5 car lengths apart. I wouldn't say they are lying about whats going on but they sure do hype it up when there's nothing to be hyped about. A lot of times they'll say something like "Driver A is closing in on Driver B" in an excited tone but in reality the 2 cars aren't really all that close.

I do not have Sirius, so I'm not sure I know exactly what Kyle's point is. That having been said, I'm not sure either Kyle or David Poole are in a position to judge what MRN or PRN do since both of them are supposed to be doing something else when the races are being broadcast on the radio. In order to critically evaluate the call by MRN or PRN, it would seem that one should watch the race live and listen to the radio call while watching. I often wonder whether reporters are actually watching the race from the media center or just watching a TV feed of the race, and David Poole has not gone to all the races this year.

In any event, as Kyle is fond of saying, NASCAR racing is a business - entertainment - and it seems to me much more important what the customers (fans) think about how the races are presented than what the insiders think.

I've been a Petty fan since the hemi days and I do love racing - but what Kyle does outside of racing is much, much more important than racing. And he has won many more Cup races than Derrick Cope.

I've been a listener of Sirius Speedway since their second week on the air. Moody's "corporate shill" remark was a sarcastic response he uses every now and then when people suggest that MRN announcers are mouthpieces for ISC.

Dave took Poole's comments personally as well he should. When Poole (and Petty) say that they don't call the race as it happens they are saying that they are lying. When Dave asked Poole about this Poole started hemming and hawing trying to divert the line of questions. Poole couldn't even figure out what a car length was.

Moody couldn't get a straight answer out of Poole. You could hear that Poole realized he shot off his mouth without thinking but like so many media people would not admit that he was wrong or issue an apology. If he had any honor at all he would write a public apology for calling the MRN and PRN crews liars. We all know that will never happen. I will not listen to any show he is on or read anything he writes.

That was two reporters with big egos in that one. Both Poole and Moody think highly of themselves and Poole is more rational usually. I have always said that Moody cannot attack the tough issues really hard as his paycheck comes from MRN which is a part of ISC which as we all know shares the bedroom and boardroom with NASCAR.At least Poole has no qualms about slamming NASCAR and telling it like it is. Moody is the consumate "corporate shill"